Venting closure for jars and other receptacles



March 12, 1940. H. INGRAM 2,193,420

VENI'ING CLOSURE FOR JARS AND OTHER RECEPTACLI' IS Filed June 4, 1937 Patented Mar. 12, 1940 I UNITED STATES VENTING CLO SURE'FOR JARS AND OTHER RECEPTACLES Harry Ingram, Wheeling, W. Va.

Application June 4, 1937, Serial No. 146,395

Claims.

My invention contemplates a closure'including as an integral part thereof a diaphragm valve for automatically venting the container to which the closure is applied. The valve consists essen- 5 tially of three elements, namely, an apertured flexible diaphragm, preferably formed integrally with the closure body, a gasket for sealing the aperture in the diaphragm and a supporting memher for the gasket, all of the elements of the valve being so arranged that the closure and valve are unitary.

The present invention is particularly applicable to the so-called Mason type jar covers in which sealing is efiected by engagement of a sealing ring with a flange or shoulderon the jar neck.

In such closures it is possible to provide an extremely sensitive diaphragm without fear of leakers, since sealing pressure is effected at the edge of the skirt and away from the zone of the diaphragm and any deformation 'of the closure incident to application to a receptacle is thus prevented from interfering in any manner with the action of the diaphragm. In my preferred embodiment, the entire valve assembly is disposed above and out of contact with the neck of the receptacle when the closure is in sealing position thereon, thus insuring thatno strain will be placed upon the which might vary its action.-

In order to facilitate assembly and disassemdiaphragm bly of the component elements forming the valved.

closure, the gasket support may be provided with a plurality of'lugs or similar means engageable in recesses formed in' the closure adjacent the topthereof, and by the mere expedient of inserting the support within the closure and rotating the same for a portion of a revolution, assembly may be effected. A digit vengageable portion maybe provided on thesupport to (facilitate this operation. This feature will be of particular value to housewives who use the closure in home canning, since it permits easy access to the various elements forming the valve and simplifies cleaning after use.

*I prefer to vform the closure entirely from noncorroding materials in order that the closures may be reused without fear of contamination or leakage resulting in spoilage of the contents. The closure body or shell may be formed of zinc or suitably coated tinplate or any noncorrosive metal having such characteristics that a proper diaphragm actionmay be obtained. The valve gasket is preferably formed of rubber and the gasket support inpthe-embodiments illustrated in the form of a glass disk.

My invention is illustrated in the attached drawing in which Figure 1 is a sectional view illustrating a closure of the type covered by my invention, as applied to a Mason jar;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of a modified type -of closure in which the gasket support is removable from the closure shell; and Figure 3 is a bottom plan view showing the gasketsupport of Figure 2.

Referring to Figure 1, the closure comprises a diaphragm 2 having a vent orifice 3 defined. by an eyelet 4. The diaphragm is peripherally .defined by a shoulder 5 integral therewith and angularly disposed with respect thereto. This 16 shoulder 5 joins the diaphragm 2 with a flat annular surface or rim 6 and the shoulder 5 and rim 6 serve to limit any deforming action'incident to the use of the closure to a portion thereof spaced from the zone of the diaphragm, whereby the diaphragm may be delicately controlled. An axially extending screw threaded skirt 1 de-' pends from the top of the closure and serves as a means for securing the closure to a receptacle.

In the illustrated embodiment the receptacle isa Mason jar 8. The Mason jar 8 is provided with a sealing shoulder 9 against which a sealing ring or gasket 10 is positioned and is engaged by an outwardly and downwardly ex- 7 tending flange ll formed on the skirt 1. It will be observed that anyforce exerted in firmly positioningthe closure on the receptacle with the flange ll sealing against the gasket l0 positioned on the shoulder 9 will be limited to the skirt land any force or reaction resulting from the pressure applied against the gasket 00 will be confined to the skirt 7 by the angularly. related shoulder 5 and the rim 8, so that the action of the diaphragm 2 will not be deleteriously afiected. Q

.The diaphragm orifice 3 is sealed by a valve gasket l2 which isgenerally in the form of a ring having oppositely chamfered. edges. The gasket 12 is held in position for engagement with the diaphragm 2 by a rigid support l3 which, in Figure 1, is a, glass disk having a concavity l4 adapted to receive the gasket-l2. The disk i3 is shaped so that; normal movement of the diaphragm during venting and, resealing is unrestricted thereby. The disk may be molded from plastics, such for example as Bakelite,

Durez and the like, or may be made of metal,

such as a. zinc die casting. The support is pref-' erably made of noncorrosive material and if ferrous metal be used, it should be protected against corrosion by a suitable coating.

.- which pressure is in an amount greater than that of the ambient atmosphere.

The amount of pressure required to effect opening of the valve depends upon a number of factors, such as the thickness of the diaphragm metal, the position of the gasket support with respect to the diaphragm' in its sealed position and degree of flexibility imparted thereto in the formation. I prefer to have the diaphragm normally flexed'toward the supportin order that the vent orifice will be normally sealed by the valve gasket I2 engaging-the underside of the diaphragm along a line circumscribing the orifice 3 and similarly engaging the gasket support. Upon creation of pressure within the receptacle, as by heating the contents thereof, the diaphragm 2 is flexed upwardly away from the support l3 and the gasket l2, and the gas within the receptacle escapes between the metal of the closure shell and the support and through theoriflce 3. The closure is of course suitable for use in other vacuumizing processes such for example as the retort method wherein the pressure of the ambient atmosphere is reduced in the zone of the receptacle to be vacuum sealedand venting of the receptacle occurs by the pressure differential existing in the container. Any of the vacuumizing processes commonly practiced in the art are applicable for use with my closure.

In order to facilitate the attainment of a predetermined diaphragm action, that is, anaction in which venting will occur upon creation of a predetermined pressure within the receptacle, the supporting disk I3 is carefully positioned with respect to the diaphragm. This is effected byproviding the disk l3 with a fiat annular surface I 5 which corresponds with and engages the rim 6 on the top of the closure shell. This insures that the valve support will always assume a predetermined position with respect to the diaphragm and thus the diaphragm action may be controlled within narrow limits.

In the assembly of the closure of Figure 1,. the metal shell which is formed to substantially final shape, incuding the formation of the diaphragm,

supporting shoulder and rim, the vent orifice and screw threaded skirt portions, is provided with a cylindrical wall extending from the rim i to the first of the thread formations. The valve -gasket l2is positioned surrounding the eyelet-l and the disk 13 is placed within the closure with the rims 6 and I5 lying in engagement. The cylindrical wall is then spun inwardly by suitable rotary forming tools to provide a ledge l6 defining a recess. receiving the lip ll of the support l3 and holds the support I! in firm engagement with the shell and in fixed position with respect to the diaphragm. V

V In this structure, the valve gasket, gasket support and closure shell are'unitaryand are movable as-a unit. The 'valve support is not removable from the closure, however, without-mutilation thereof. Such removal may be found desirable, particularly by the home canner who will reuse'the closurefrom time to time. For this purpose the modification shown in Figure 2 may be found desirable. In this embodiment, the valve elements are substantially thesame as those of Figure 1, ex-

and permitting escape of the outer annular ing disposed within the shell with'the outer ona plurality of lugs IS,- in the illustrated embodiment four, which are adapted to lie within corresponding recesses defined by ledges 20 formed in the closure shell between the screw threaded portion and the top thereof. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the diaphragm is protected by an angularly related shoulder 2| and an annular rim 22 and the glass disk support has a corresponding annular flat portion 23.

The disk may be provided with a projection 2t to be grasped by the fingers or a wrench to facilitate insertion or removal of the support from the closure shell. This permits rapid hand "assembly by the closure manufacturer and permits the housewife toremove the support to facilitate cleaning and replacement of the valve elements.

The area of the shell between the adjacent ledges 20 is struck radiallyoutwardly' in order that the lugs l9 may pass freely in an axial direction until the rim 22 and fiat 23 engage. In assembly, the gasket is positioned surrounding cepting that the valve support I8 is formed with the eyelet 25, the support It is placed withinthe cap and the lugs l9 lying with the area between adjacent ledges 20, and the support I8 is rotated until the lugs l9 lie within their corresponding recesses defined by the ledges 20. The ledges are preferably so formed that the fiat annular surface 23 of the support is urged into firm engagement with the rim 22 of the top of the closure as by tapering the ledges toward the top of the cap to cam" the support toward the top, insuring proper positioning of the support with respect to the diaphragm.

The closure of Figure 2 operates in exactly the same manner as the closure of Figure 1, that is, upon creation of pressure within the receptacle,

gasescapes between the metal of the closure shell and the disk support, thus urging the diaphragin upwardly and away from the support gas through the vent orifice. Upon release or reduction of pressure, the diaphragm assumes its normal, sealed position.

While I have illustrated and described certain preferred embodiments of my invention, it will be understood, that it is not limited .to the forms shown, but may be otherwise embodied. within the scope of the following claims. 4

I claim:

1. A Y unitary valved closure comprising a closure shell having a top. a. skirt havingreceptacle engaging means thereon and a sealing flange extending therefrom, a flexible diaphragm having an orifice therein, said diaphragm forming an integral part of said top. an annular channel shaped portion joining the diaphragm andthe skirt and providing a fiat annular surface at the top of the shell, an inwardly projecting ledge disposed between the fiat annular portion of the top and the recent cle engaging means on the skirt, a rigid gasket supporting disk having an portion and a lip, said support benular portion lying in engagement with the flat annular portion of the top of the shell and with the lip lying within the recess defined by the inwardlyprojecting ledge, whereby the support is held in predetermined position with respect to the diaphragm, and a valve gasket adapted'to seal the diaphragm orifice when the diaphragm is. flexed toward the support.

. 2 A unitary valvedclosure in accordance with I claim 1 in which the gasket support 'is "circular position and is not removable from the closure shell.-

3. A unitary valved closure in accordance with claim 1 in which the gasket support is provided with a plurality of lips or lugs engageable in corresponding recesses defined by a plurality of ledges in the skirt of the shell.

'4. A unitary valved closure in accordance with claim 1 in which the gasket support is provided with a plurality of lips or lugs engageable in corresponding recesses defined by a plurality of.

ledges in the skirt of the shell and in which there is provided on the support a projection to facilitate removal of the support from the closure shell.

' 5. III'he combination of a glass receptacle having a neck portion provided with closure securing projections thereon and a sealing shoulder projecting radially outwardly from the neck portion therebelow, a closure for said receptacle comprising a metal shell having anintegrally formed apertured diaphragm in the top thereof, an annular channel-shaped portion angularly joining the diaphragm with a skirt integral with and depending fromthe top of the closure and having B receptacle engaging means thereon, such channel-shaped portion including a fiat annular surface .at the topof the shell adjacent the periphery' thereof, said channel-shaped portion constituting means limiting any deformation of the closure incident to assembly thereof with a container to portions of said closure other than said diaphragm, a' radially inwardly projecting ledge formed on the skirt and disposed between the fiat annular portionof the top of the shell and the receptacle engaging means on the skirt, a rigid gasket'supporting disk having a flat outer annular portion, a depressed central portion and a peripherally disposed lip, said support being disposed within the shell with the flat portion lying in engagement with the complementary fiat portion on the top of the shell and with the lipthereof lying within the recess defined by the inwardly projecting ledge, the arrangement being such that the support is held in fixed and predetermined position with respect to the diaphragm which is free for unrestricted movement to effect venting and automatic sealing of said vent orifice in the diaphragm, a valve gasket adapted to seal the diaphragm orifice when the diaphragm is flexed toward the support, and a sealing fiange on the skirt and extending radially outwardly therefrom, and a sealing ring disposed between the sealing flange on the skirt and the sealing shoulder on the receptacle.

HARRY INGRAM. so 

